Managing essential healthcare services during the first nationwide lockdown: experiences from a Regional Referral Hospital in Bhutan

The current COVID -19 pandemic has brought unprecedented burden on healthcare system throughout the world. While the pandemic has hijacked all attention and priorities, there is a significant concern that non-COVID essential healthcare services may be negleccted. Lockdowns have become an important public health measure to contain local outbreaks. We describe our experiences in ensuring the provision of essential healthcare services during the first nationwide lockdown. Adequate preparations with a well-thought of contingency plan , identification of roles, good communication system, 24 -hour hotline and a mobile clinic with the most essential services, form important components of essential healthcare services.

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Water fluoridation: current challenges

Archives of Disease in Childhood ◽

10.1136/archdischild-2019-318545 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. archdischild-2019-318545

Author(s):

John Furness ◽

Sam J Oddie ◽

Simon Hearnshaw

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Dental Caries ◽

Water Fluoridation ◽

Public Health Measure ◽

Important Public Health ◽

Community Water ◽

Health Measure ◽

Community Water Fluoridation ◽

And Child Health ◽

Do So

Dental extraction for caries is the most common reason for children aged 6–10 years to be admitted to hospital. Community Water Fluoridation (CWF) is safe and effective at reducing dental caries. It is most effective where there is more deprivation. However, many deprived areas do not have CWF despite Public Health England recommending it. Those who lobby against fluoridation do so using emotionally charged language and misinformation. We discuss the benefits of fluoridation and the specious arguments used against this important public health measure. The National CWF Network is led by dentists and promotes CWF. COVID-19 has led to the suspension of routine dentistry, renewing the urgency of implementation of CWF. Professional bodies such as the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health are urged to give their support.

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Workplace bullying in Australia: Recruiting ethical leaders is an important public health measure

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1177/0004867416660201 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 50 (11) ◽

pp. 1104-1105 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Stephen Allison ◽

Tarun Bastiampillai

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Workplace Bullying ◽

Public Health Measure ◽

Important Public Health ◽

Health Measure ◽

Ethical Leaders

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Reduction in paediatric intensive care admissions during COVID-19 lockdown in Maryland, USA

BMJ Paediatrics Open ◽

10.1136/bmjpo-2020-000876 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. e000876

Author(s):

Ana Lia Graciano ◽

Adnan T Bhutta ◽

Jason W Custer

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Intensive Care ◽

Paediatric Intensive Care Unit ◽

Respiratory Infections ◽

Paediatric Intensive Care ◽

Public Health Measure ◽

Health Measure ◽

Time Period ◽

The World ◽

The Government

As a public health measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world instituted a variety of interventions to ‘flatten the curve’. The government of Maryland instituted similar measures. We observed a striking decline in paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admissions during that period, mostly due to a decease in respiratory infections. We believe this decline is multifactorial: less person-to-person contact, better air quality and perhaps ‘fear’ of going to a hospital during the pandemic. We report an analysis of our PICU admissions during the lockdown period and compared them with the same time period during the four previous years.

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Estimating Force of Infection from Serologic Surveys with Imperfect Tests

10.1101/2020.06.09.20125724 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Neal Alexander ◽

Mabel Carabali ◽

Jacqueline K Lim

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Public Health Measure ◽

Important Public Health ◽

Control Programs ◽

Force Of Infection ◽

Belief Elicitation ◽

Health Measure ◽

Serological Studies ◽

Using Data ◽

The Impact

The force of infection, or the rate at which susceptible individuals become infected, is an important public health measure for assessing the extent of outbreaks and the impact of control programs. Here we present methods for estimating force of infection from serological surveys of infections which produce lasting immunity, taking into account imperfections in the test used, and uncertainty in such imperfections. The methods cover both single serological surveys, in which age is a proxy for time at risk, and repeat surveys in the same people, in which the force of infection is estimated more directly. Fixed values can be used for the sensitivity and specificity of the tests, or existing methods for belief elicitation can be used to include uncertainty in these values. The latter may be applicable, for example, when the specificity of a test depends on co-circulating pathogens, which may not have been well characterized in the setting of interest. We illustrate the methods using data from two published serological studies of dengue.

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Is Second dose of vaccination useful in previously SARS-CoV-2 infected Health Care Workers?

10.1101/2021.06.22.21257103 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gauthier Pean de Ponfilly ◽

Benoit Pilmis ◽

Iheb El Kaibi ◽

Nathalie Castreau ◽

Sophie Laplanche ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Healthcare Systems ◽

Public Health Measure ◽

Important Public Health ◽

Infected People ◽

Health Measure ◽

Care Workers

Vaccines are the most important public health measure to protect people from COVID‐19 worldwide. In addition, healthcare workers account for a large number of infected people. Then, protecting this population from COVID-19 seems crucial in the preservation of healthcare systems. In a context of few doses available, serological assays could be useful to decide whether one or two doses are needed. Our results show that a first dose of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine seems to act as a boost after SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and a second dose might not be required.

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Corynebacterium diphtheriae

Journal of Hygiene ◽

10.1017/s0022172400064986 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 93 (3) ◽

pp. 395-395

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Corynebacterium Diphtheriae ◽

Causative Organism ◽

Childhood Immunization ◽

Public Health Measure ◽

Ministry Of Health ◽

Advertising Campaign ◽

Health Measure ◽

The World ◽

Life Threatening

Corynebacterium diphtheriae was first observed by Klebs in 1883 and was cultivated a year later by Loeffler, whose description in 1884 of the causative organism of diphtheria remains a standard. Diphtheria was a life-threatening disease throughout the world until the therapeutic use of antitoxin and the use, as a public health measure, of childhood immunization with toxoid. In Britain the use of toxoid was advocated by the Ministry of Health in the early 1920s, but it was not until 20 years later that extensive programmes of prophylaxis were carried out under the advertising campaign Diphtheria is Deadly.

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Running with Face Masks or Respirators Can Be Detrimental to the Respiratory and Cardiovascular Systems

Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications ◽

10.15212/cvia.2021.0010 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Guoliang Li

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Side Effects ◽

Cardiac Arrhythmias ◽

Spontaneous Pneumothorax ◽

Oxygen Deficiency ◽

Rare Event ◽

Face Mask ◽

Public Health Measure ◽

Important Public Health ◽

Health Measure

Since the first cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2) were reported at the end of 2019, this infection has spread around the globe, becoming a pandemic. The use of face masks and respirators is an important public health measure to reduce or prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Here we discuss the hypothetical mechanisms by which exercise with face masks orrespirators can induce detrimental effects on the cardiovascular system, potentially explaining adverse events suchas cardiac arrhythmias and spontaneous pneumothorax. Although sudden death associated with the wearing of a face mask during running is a rare event, the risk is higher especially in those with existing cardiac comorbidities.In such cases, a mask designed specifically for runners with no or few side effects of oxygen deficiency should be considered instead.

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